A film about pioneering chef Jeremiah Tower set to debut

Film buffs who are food lovers, mark your
calendars. There is a new film titled Jeremiah Tower: The
Last Magnificent that chronicles the life of
pioneering chef Jeremiah Tower, one of the most
controversial and influential figures in American gastronomy. The
movie premieres this April in select
cities.

Tower began his career at the renowned Chez Panisse restaurant
in Berkeley in 1972, where he forged his reputation alongside
founder Alice Waters. The duo had a contentious relationship, and
after working at Chez Panisse for over a decade Towers left to form
his own groundbreaking restaurant, Stars, in San
Francisco.

Under Tower's direction, Stars birthed the movement now known
as 'nouvelle cuisine' or 'California
cuisine'. After several years in his renowned restaurant and at the
height of his fame, Tower mysteriously walked away from the
culinary scene and remained out of the limelight for nearly twenty
years. Then, to everyone's surprise, he was named as the new chef
at New York City's troubled Tavern on the Green restaurant in
2014.

The film features interviews by Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain,
Ruth Reichl and Martha Stewart, as it tells the story of the rise,
fall, and rebirth of America's first celebrity chef.

Both terms were included in the press release for the film, but I think you're right that 'nouvelle cuisine' is something different, as it primarily refers to the lighter form of French cooking that arise beginning in the late 1960s.